Spend less time queuing and more time enjoying yourself

Universal Studios Japan is one of the must-dos in Osaka especially if you’re a fan of Harry Potter (*raises hand frantically). The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is without a doubt the main highlight while visiting. I mean who wouldn’t want to forgo our muggle (normal human folk) status for a day and immerse ourselves in a world of magical possibilities.

Growing up, I pored over the Harry Potter books and films. I even went to the lengths of rereading all the previous books whenever a new one came out (yes I read Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone 7 times).

Why spend time queueing when you can be enjoying a Butter Beer. Image Credit: @Rachelwongggg

So when I got the chance to visit Osaka with The Travel Intern, I jumped on the chance to visit Hogwarts at Universal Studios Japan. The problem though, is that despite the rides being in Japanese, there are still plenty of foreign tourists visiting the park on top of the locals. In fact it attracts on average 13 million people each year! Apparently waits of up to 300mins for a ride isn’t uncommon.

Having only a single day to visit the park, we researched extensively and finally came up with an ultimate guide to maximising your time at Universal Studios Japan.

Here’s a couple of tricks to ensure you get to experience everything you want in a single day:

1) Purchase your tickets beforehand

While tickets can be purchased at the front counter, the lines can get really long. By long I mean really really long. Many unsuspecting foreign tourists end up queueing even after the park gates have opened. Can you imagine waiting outside while people are already streaming into the park? You can also purchase them online via the official website, but the ticketing site is only in Japanese. So unless you have a Japanese friend who can help you out, it’s literally impossible to navigate the site.

USJ is currently having their 15th Anniversary. Credit: @Rachelwongggg

Not wanting to lose out to the locals, we ended up booking our tickets to Universal Studios Japan via Klook. Activity booking sites like Klook work like online travel agents but without the frills. What I especially found convenient was their mobile app which allowed us to book on the go. The e-ticket was issued immediately and we simply had to scan the QR code at the entrance for entry. No need to collect your tickets beforehand or fear that you will misplace them.

The best part was that the price was literally the same! Actually it’s slightly cheaper. (Correct as of publish date)
– Single day studio pass outside ticketing booth: ¥7400 or SGD94
– Single day studio pass via Klook: SGD92

For first time users, there’s even an additional US$3.50 (or SGD$5) discount when you use my promo code <KLOOKTTI> on your mobile app. Simply click Promotions and enter the code.

Pro-tip: I highly recommend getting the Express Passes especially if you are going there on a weekend. It’s no fun spending an entire day queueing.

2) Arrive before gates open

A queue forming at the entrance even though we arrived an hour early.

This might seem like a very Singaporean thing, but trust me, there are far more competitively “kiasu” (eager) people than us. Despite getting our tickets earlier we decided to arrive at 8am, a full hour before the park opened. Yet there was already a decent queue in front of us.

When the park opened, people were literally running to their attraction of choice. Locals and tourists alike. We were a little too cool to run, but thankfully because of good planning, got to our first rollercoaster (Hollywood Dream -The Ride Back Drop) with only a 5min wait.

Note: We had bought some food at a nearby convenience store hoping to eat while waiting for the park to open. However Universal Studios very recently started conducting bag checks and disallowing food to be brought into the park. They weren’t very strict though, so you can probably still stuff an onigiri into your pocket. Just be sure to dispose them properly!

3) Grab a timed ticket first for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Hogwarts Express complete with luggage and steam.

To cope with crowds flocking to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter during peak periods, a timed ticketing system was introduced. You basically need to get your hands on a free ticket that gives you a designated time to enter that section of the park. Without which you may not be able to enter and down your favourite butter beer.

Close up of Hogwarts Castle. Hogsmeade. Looks like the real thing in the movies.Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. Fancy jelly beans!

There are two main ways to get your hands on one:

(A) Ticketing Site on the day of admission

What this means is that you need to rush to the ticketing site inside Universal Studios Japan at Central Park to obtain your timed ticket. Perhaps this was what everyone was running for. Once there, you simply designate the time you want to enter. Do note that the ticket is one-time use only, meaning you cannot re-enter using the same ticket. The good news though is that once you are inside, you can stay there for as long as you want.

For those who opt to do this, you run the risk of not getting the slot you want as there are limited tickets for every timing. I’ll suggest either getting an early morning or late afternoon slot so you have time to enjoy the rest of the park at one go.

Warning: If you’re a Harry Potter fan, expect to spend a longer time than expected inside

(B) Advanced time entry ticket with the Universal Express Pass

If you prefer not to leave things to chance, purchasing an Express Pass also gets you a timed ticket to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in advance. From what I know, only the “Universal Express Pass 4 – Flying Dinosaur” doesn’t include a timed ticket. You can check out the various types of express passes here.

Once you get your timed tickets, do keep track of time! You won’t be able to enter with the same ticket once you miss the time slot.

4) Queue at Single Rider Lanes

Get some minion buns and mochi to pass time while queueing. Super adorable!

For some reason, the Japanese don’t really like queueing at Single Rider Lanes even though it can be 50% faster. I mean when you’re on the ride, you can’t exactly talk to your friends too!

So unless you really need to be beside your friends because they are freaking out, hop onto the Single Rider Lanes instead. You still get to queue together and the only difference is that you’ll be sitting beside a stranger. By the end of the ride, you might not even be strangers anymore as you scream your lungs out together.

5) Rank the rides by importance and strategise

The park isn’t that big but on super crowded days, it might be tough to conquer all the rides. To minimise disappointment, I suggest coming up with a list of rides by importance and head to those higher up the list first. It’s easy to get distracted and explore the park by zones, but giving in to your intuition may not be the smartest thing to do. There’s plenty of time left to explore the shops and fringe activities if you plan your time well.

If you like thrills like we do, aim for the rollercoasters first because those will perpetually have a long queue.

Here’s a quick take on some of our favourite rides:

The Flying Dinosaur
Hands down the best rollercoaster in the entire park. If you only have time for one extreme ride, this is it. Imagine being grabbed by an out of control Pteranodon flying through the sky. Lots of sudden acceleration and drops.

Hollywood Dream – The Ride – Backdrop
The cool thing about this rollercoaster is that you experience everything backwards. Which means it’s super unpredictable and you won’t be able to anticipate drops and sharp turns. You can even select your own music track for the ride!

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
4D rides don’t get better than this. While it’s weird seeing Harry Potter talk to you in Japanese, the idea of zooming through Hogwarts on a enchanted cabinet can’t be missed. It was surprisingly thrilling for a 4D ride too.

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman:
Experience fire and water as you follow Spiderman while he takes on villains in New York City. A really enjoyable ride with lots of well timed effects!

It might sound like a lot of work, but remember that if you arrive early, you’ll probably have an hour ahead before the park opens. Use this time to plan and maximise your time inside the park!

A visit to Universal Studios Japan can be a lot of fun, but if you really want to maximise your enjoyment, some preparation is needed. After all you don’t want to spend so much money only to spend most of your time queuing inside the park.

66 thoughts on “5 ways to maximise your time at Universal Studios Japan”

People are running coz once you have entered USJ and ran straight to HP world, you dont need that timed entry anymore. And when we got to the forbidden journey, it was only a 30-40 min waiting time. We didnt even notice that 30mins has passed since the line’s always moving.Not many know this tip.but thanks to all these people running and us following them, we were led to hogwarts in no time. Haha Also if you’re lucky, there are days when a timed entry is not needed so you can go in and out of HP as long as you like.

Doesn’t purchasing via Kloosk violate USJ’s policy regarding third party sales? There is a warning about it on their site, that tickets purchased through ticket agencies will be nullified. Kloosk seems like a very smooth option to prepurchase tickets since it’s pretty much impossible to do it on their site, but it would be devastating to find out they were not valid once you got there… Going there in November and hoping for as little queueing as possible of course ;)

About Klook, are the prices in HKD? it seems too good to be true at 548HKD? that’s way cheaper than the price listed on the USJ official site at 7400 yen including taxes. I also plan to go in November on a tues or wed to avoid the crowd. Do you know if there will be timed entry for harry potter? Thanks

Hi, I got in touch with Klook today and asked if they are an official partner. The support staff says they are not, but that they buy their tickets from an official partner. What’s the most recent date that anyone has tried going inside USJ using Klook tickets?

Actually they are and I’ve double checked on my end with the Klook management team and they assured us they are. They are looking in the case of making sure all their support staff is aware of what is happening. In any case the tickets really work and Klook is a legit company so not to worry!

Hi! I noted that they would conduct bag checks for smuggling food inside. How would they do so since there’s lots of ppl queuing ? Wouldnt it affect the traffic flow? I wanted to smuggle during my trip this november cause the food inside is expensive~~

Hi! Would you recommend a two day pass in Universal Studios Japan? We are planning to go on the 29th of October 2017 (it is a Monday) My family does not like to rush things. If we do it in two days, will we still need an express pass? Plus would you recommend staying at Park Front hotel or Hotel Universal Port?

It’s hard to say because it really depends on how crowded it is. If there are kids and you’ll want to try a lot of things then I think express pass is a must. But since you are spending 2days there, I’ll say play by ear and get the express pass only when you think you need it!

Hi there, I will be visiting USJ in April as a solo traveller (on a weekday). Do you think it would be worth purchasing an express pass, or will it be unnecessary as I will be using the solo queues? Thanks for the post!

Awesome article!! I’m planning on going next month, and see that there’s Cool Japan 2017 happening. I would like to do Attack on Titan and Conan, as well as the minion ride and spend most time in Harry Potter. Do you think one full day will be enough (the rest of the rides I don’t mind skipping, at least for this time)? We are planning to go on a Sunday late-April. The crowd seems average based on a USJ crowd predictor. I’m willing to purchase express pass, but do you think I need the Cool Japan express and another one for Harry Potter + the minion ride?

Also, do you happen to know if knowing Japanese is important to do the Conan event?

it’s been awhile since we last visited, although we will be heading there again very soon.
Harry Potter comes with the Express Pass. For Conan I think Japanese is important if you want to understand what’s happening. Even for the Harry Potter rides, everything was in Japanese!

Hi, I was when we buy the express standard 4 tickets on the japanese website, we have to choose the time slots to go for the express rides (i checked that only available times is around 4pm, which is rather late for me).

But if i buy through Klook i can use the express tickets the moment i reach in the morning after i enter USJ?

Hi, I was there yesterday. Your tips really came in handy! You are absolutely right. The park isn’t that big so if you plan your rides well then you may not need an express pass. We got there at 7.50am and the crowds were shocking. Shocking because after a year of so much order in Japan- nice neat queues even when cyclists are waiting at traffic lights for instance to…a crowd. Definitely not a place to go on a holiday like golden week.
It helps to go early with a child, because the kiddie attractions get full from around 11am…
Strangely at the queue for Hollywood Dream – The Ride – Backdrop; one couldn’t opt for backdrop or the ride- the staff direct you to the ride regardless of your preference. Flying dinosaur- adrenaline packed. Spider-Man was my last ride. Loved it.
Thank you for this review, very helpful!

We will be going there in Oct, do you have any idea that any locker in USJ that we could leave our luggage there?
As we might reach Osaka in the morning and go straight to USJ… We plan to buy express ticket, should be alright in we go on weekday right?

Thanks for the post, very helpful! Just wondering, did you buy an express ticket? I’ve just purchased one and I’m wondering if they’re only one use or not. What I mean is that I bought the 7 ride express ticket, does that mean I can use it on each of the 7 rides only once? Or is it unlimited use on each ride?

Hello, for the Harry Potter timed ticket, we can choose our preference time to enter? It’s not like randomly given by the staff right?
Me and my friend bought the express pass however our entry time into Harry Potter is different and we ought to get a same time slot to visit Harry Potter together >_<